


Hear My Soul Speak

by Tinkernat



Category: Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-23 01:19:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15595071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinkernat/pseuds/Tinkernat
Summary: Written for the Wondertrev Love Week 2018 on Tumblr for the prompt soulmates/soulmarks.“It is a gift,” Hippolyta would say, smoothing her hair when she found Diana lingering on the cliff tops, “One that was denied us. You are blessed, Diana.”Yet she didn’t feel blessed, for no matter how many sets of eyes she caught sight of, the sea and sky remained stubbornly grey.





	Hear My Soul Speak

Diana often found herself staring out at the writhing of the ocean, allowing its ebb and swell to mesmerise her. High on the cliffs of Themyscira, it seemed to stretch on endlessly, only grasping on the heels of the sky. It called to something deep in her gut. A wild craving. An untamable tumult. And though the sun threw diamonds of light onto its surface it remained relentlessly grey like the yearning in her chest.

“It is a gift,” Hippolyta would say, smoothing her hair when she found Diana lingering on the cliff tops, “One that was denied us. You are blessed, Diana.”

Yet she didn’t feel blessed, for no matter how many sets of eyes she caught sight of, the sea and sky remained stubbornly grey.

*

Soulmates were not often spoken of on Themyscira, for no matter how much time passes some wounds did not heal. Diana only heard about them in the old stories, of human women falling victim to cruelty at the hands of men who professed to love them. Of Aphrodite gifting humans with the ability to tell their soulmates by catching their eyes in an effort to protect these women. Yet this did not stop Ares’ influence and war wracking the Earth, so the Amazons were made. Diana would sit, wide-eyed and awed, in the crook of her mother’s arm.

“We were never given Aphrodite’s gift,” the Queen would say, eyes misty and far away, “for we were intended to show mankind love, not to have it for ourselves.”

“But you broke those bonds Mother!” Diana would cry, clutching at the Queen’s fingers, “You fought for your freedom!”

“Yes,” her mother would squeeze her gently and fondly brush back her hair, “Perhaps this was the price.”

“But I have a soulmate! Why me and no one else?”

“You were brought to life by Zeus himself,” her mother would smile wryly, “I think that garners some exceptions.”

*

As Diana grows, so does the way she approaches the absence of colour.

As a child, it was an aching, lonely feeling of unbelonging lodged in her stomach. As a teen, it was a restlessness, curling and uncurling in her chest. As a woman, it was a realisation. She is not less for the absence of colour, nor the absence of her soulmate. She is whole as she is. She does not need some other person to make her complete, for she cannot miss what she has never had.

She finds the grey of the sea beautiful now, instead of sad.

*

In the seconds it takes the plane to tumble from the sky into the stillness of the ocean, Diana decides what sort of person she wants to be, with or without her soulmate.

The surf embraces her like an old friend as she cuts through the water to the hulk of metal. It seems eager to greet the figure in the plane as well, for it swallows the cockpit greedily. She crests the water when she reaches the crash site, leaping onto the wing left floating on the surface. The light filtering through the water below her illuminates the sinking cockpit like a sick spotlight. The person is thrashing now, apparently stuck. Her heart leaps into her throat when the movement stills.

She is submerged again between one thought and the next.

Swiftly, she rips the restraints off. Wrapping her arms around the person’s torso, she kicks upwards until they break the surface of the water. Sucking in greedy breaths, she guides them back to the beach with sure strokes. The water buoys them up and the tide pushes them to the shore, warm and encouraging around them. Diana drags the limp body into the sand, water lapping at her ankles as if to reassure her.

Dropping down next to the person, Diana realises she is looking at a man for the first time. She shifts unsurely, for she has heard many things about mankind and not all are complementary. Yet he seems so harmless, sodding wet and prone. She studies the panes of his face and supposes his features fine, though strange to her. She is caught by the fancy to run her hand along his jaw.

Tentatively, she raises her hand to his cheek. He coughs abruptly and she snatches her hand back, watching warily as he curls onto his side to regain his breath. He stops writhing when he sees her crouching next to him and raises his gaze to her face.

And then she meets his eyes.

Her world explodes.

She could not describe the colour if she tried, for how can you describe something with such light, such life contained in it? Warmth suffuses her chest and her breath freezes in her throat. The moment crystallises in her veins and she feels full to the brim. She cannot stop the fond grin that spreads across her face, taking in the stunned look on his face.

“Wow,” he says, voice low and strangely comforting.

She wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all. She had always imagined startling her soulmate with wit or an impressive feat.

Yet she can hardly draw enough breath and all she can manage is an incredulous: “You’re a man.”

*

When Diana next feels she can draw breath properly, her aunt is dead and the world feels uncertain beneath her feet.

Her mind is swirling with the words of this Steve Trevor. There is a war. People are dying. Some of her people have already died. More will perish if they do not act and yet her mother will not be moved. Ares is out there; they must protect the world. They must.

In the midst of all this, she cannot calm the small bubble of excitement in her gut. She sees the sky, the ocean, and even the flecks of blue in her mother’s irises with new, wondrous eyes. It makes every other colour sharper and more vibrant now she has the whole spectrum. She finds it hard to keep from smiling as she watches gulls tumble over cerulean water.

Then guilt drags the smile from her face. Guilt that she can still smile when her aunt cannot, while there is work to be done.

So, Diana quashes her questions, her joy and her breathless awe to the pit of her stomach where they sit uneasily. She does not tell her mother, though she desperately wants to. She must destroy Ares before she can think on anything else. She hates and loves that Steve Trevor is her only chance at finding him.

Steve Trevor is reticent, even when he has agreed to take her to Ares. He is not what Diana has expected her whole life. There is no denying he is beautiful, especially with the light of the healing pools dancing across his skin. He tells her small tidbits about the outside world she has never even considered. When his eyes are on her, she feels warm and beautiful. Still, she feels he is carefully holding something back from her. It’s in the way he can’t look in her eyes for too long, or the way he reaches out to her when he thinks she’s not looking, but always snatches his hand away again. She cannot make him out, this man she is supposed to know implicitly.

Diana guides him out of the warmth healing pools into the bite of the night air. He stays a respectful few steps behind her, hand clenched at his side. He is silent as she gestures him towards their horses. He goes to the side of his horse furthest from her and all she can see of him is his hair bleached pale by the moonlight.

She feels his eyes on her as she mounts. He waits for her to settle in her saddle before he mounts his own horse, but he looks away resolutely when she glances over at him as if he had never turned her way. He hunches over in the saddle. At first, Diana thinks he feels the chill in the night air too keenly, but he does not shiver. No, he is too still. He leans away from her and only looks her way when she does not look his. Affronted, she grips her reigns too tightly.

“Which way is the beach?” he says, scanning the dark shapes on the horizon.

“You are very strange with me Steve,” Diana says sharply, ashamed of the note of hurt she cannot force from her voice, “Are all men like this?”

“No, not all men,” he clears his throat. Diana can just see the colour rising on his cheeks in the low light.

“So why are you?” she demands, turning in the saddle so that he cannot avoid her gaze.

“The colours, it’s…” he breathes out shakily, fidgeting in the saddle, “It’s not something you just...talk about.”

Diana frowns, “This is about us being soulmates?”

“Yeah, it’s-” he cuts himself off with a sigh, “People don’t put all that much stock in it anymore. People have died over wanting the colours. If you get them, you just...don't mention it. You don’t get to be with that person.”

Diana scrutinises his face, watching the conflict playing out on his features. He is unable to meet her eyes for long, but he cannot seem to look away for long either. His eyes keep returning to her as if he’s reassuring himself she’s not going to disappear. Diana feels something inside her soften.

“It is nothing to be ashamed of,” she says softly.

Tentatively, lest he bolts, she reaches over to him. She brushes her fingertips on his elbow, lingering there. When he does not pull away, her hand drifts down to his forearm and squeezes reassuringly. His breathing is shaky and loud in the still night air. He looks startled, like a cornered animal.

Slowly, he lets go of the reigns and turns his hand palm up in a silent offer. Smiling brightly, Diana grips his fingers tightly.

*

The make it to the beach before Hippolyta finds them.

Diana expects her to try to stop her, but her mother only looks resigned and perhaps a bit fond. Hippolyta steps closer so that she can see her face properly. Diana feels a sudden rush of gratitude to whatever forces brought Steve to her, for she has never been gladder to see the see all the hues of her mother’s eyes.

Her mother pulls out a tiara from the depths of her cloak. As Hippolyta presses the cool metal into her hands, Diana feels tears prick at her eyes when she recognises it is Antiope’s. She looks up at her mother imploringly. All traces of the woman determined to protect the world from Ares giving way to the girl who curled up to her mother’s side to listen to stories before sleep. Her mother gives her a watery smile, the stars dancing across glassy eyes.

There is a harshness to her mother’s voice when she says, “Be careful in the world of men Diana; they do not deserve you.”

Diana feels she is on the edge of something and a thrill of terror steals her voice. Her mother brings her hands up to frame Diana’s face. Diana leans into the soft touch, unable to help the smile that comes to her face. because in the moonlight the blue in her mother’s eyes is luminous.

“You are yet to find your other half,” Hippolyta says softly, “But you have been my greatest love. Today you are my greatest sorrow.”

Her heart feels heavy in her chest as her mother turns away. It is only when Steve squeezes her hand as he helps her into the waiting boat that it lifts enough so she can breathe.

*

In the half-light the next morning, Hippolyta’s words ring in her mind. Unwilling to open her eyes to face the day, Diana feigns sleep and lets the rocking of their ship lull her. In the safety of her own thoughts, she uncoils her uncertain feelings over Steve so that they rove through her body freely and twist together with her mother’s words. She lays there until her heart no longer speeds with nerves.

She thinks she would like to love like her mother has, and to be loved in return. Perhaps Steve is her chance at a great love. Perhaps she should try, instead of waiting until after Ares is gone.

She had thought finding resolve would feel like falling. Instead, it feels like floating.

When she finally sits up, Steve is running his hands over the exposed hull of the boat, skimming the wood with a barely concealed reverence. Diana watches him warily, wondering not for the first time at the strangeness of him. His lips curl into a smile and he huffs out a breathy laugh. He looks at her over his shoulder, a giddy grin stretching across his face. The brightness in his eyes makes the blue sparkle like the gentle light dancing across the ocean around them and Diana feels like she is drowning.

“It’s so warm,” his voice is a breathy whisper, almost lost in the lapping of the waves on the hull.

Clarity is gentle and blooming to Diana, “You have not seen it before.”

He nods, the movement jerky with uncertainty. Diana feels as if her sea legs had abandoned her, leaving her teetering. She curls her fingers into the thick fabric of her cloak, hoping it would anchor her. Hope coils through her unbidden, forcing words from her mouth.

“I could not see the sea before you came,” she admits in an almost strangled whisper, “Nor the sky.”

Steve’s smile, if possible, gets wider. Diana is stunned by the brightness in his eyes as his whole face lights up. She cannot bear the thought of tearing her eyes away, so she does not. Instead, she reaches for him, or he reaches for her, and their fingers twine together. She lets him tug her down towards him, revelling in the warmth of his hands in hers. She settles hip to hip with him until they are close enough to share the same breath.

“You’re mine and I’m yours,” Steve whispers, gaze roving across her face as if dazed.

Diana tilts her head, letting a smile curl at her mouth. She lifts his hands to her mouth and placed a small kiss to his knuckles. Steve lets out a delighted laugh.

“You’re mine and I’m yours,” she agrees.


End file.
